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Security Council extends mandate of experts monitoring Sudan sanctions

Security Council in session.
UN Photo/Ryan Brown
Security Council in session.

Security Council extends mandate of experts monitoring Sudan sanctions

The Security Council today extended for another year the mandate of the panel of experts monitoring United Nations sanctions imposed on Sudan in connection with the conflict in Darfur.

The Security Council today extended for another year the mandate of the panel of experts monitoring United Nations sanctions imposed on Sudan in connection with the conflict in Darfur.

The panel was set up in March 2005 and is tasked with monitoring an arms embargo, travel ban and assets freeze, and informing the Council’s sanctions committee about individuals who impede the peace process, violate international law or are responsible for offensive military flights in Darfur.

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council extended the panel’s mandate until 17 February 2014 and requested it to “continue to coordinate its activities as appropriate with the operations of the United Nations/African Union Hybrid Operation in Darfur (UNAMID) and with international efforts to promote the political process in Darfur.”

The 15-member body also voiced its concern that the direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer to Sudan of technical assistance and support – including training, financial or other assistance and the provision of spare parts, weapons systems and related materiel – could be used by the Government to support military aircraft being used in violation of Council resolutions.

Further, the Council “regrets that some individuals affiliated with the Government of Sudan and armed groups in Darfur, continue to commit violence against civilians, impede the peace process, and disregard the demands of the Council, and expresses its intention to impose targeted sanctions against individuals and entities that meet the listing criteria.”

Darfur has since 2003 been wracked by conflict that pits Government forces and allied militiamen against rebel groups. Millions of civilians have been either internally displaced or forced to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.